This invention relates to furniture, and more particularly to a compact folding table and a storage stand for a number of such tables.
Many designs have been provided in the past and shown in prior patents relating to pieces of folding furniture. For example, the following listed patents show a number of designs of this general nature:
______________________________________ NUMBER PATENTEE DATE ______________________________________ 4,955,873 Rajlevsky 09-11-90 4,315,467 Venderminden 02-16-82 3,162,149 Hansen 12-22-64 2,792,491 Rand 05-14-57 2,576,287 English 11-27-51 2,572,205 Shanks 10-23-51 1,939,904 Koopman 12-19-33 1,046,247 Baerresen 12-03-12 Des. 80,586 Thomas 02-25-30 598,077 Comee 02-01-1898 318,110 Harnish 05-19-1885 66,813 Doty 07-16-1867 ______________________________________
Typically such furniture is made foldable so that it will take up less space when not in use and may be stored more conveniently. In addition to being compactly folded for storage, such a piece of furniture should also be sturdy when opened for use, and have an attractive appearance when in use.
The Doty, Hansen, Thomas and Koopman patents show typical prior art folding tables, which include two pairs of upright legs. Each pair of legs are connected by horizontal braces and the braces are pivotably connected so that they may be folded together. A top is pivotably connected to one of the top braces so that the top may be folded between horizontal and vertical positions.
Some folding tables have been provided which include a single, centrally located spindle, which has a better design appearance and less interference with a user's legs. The English, Comee and Baerresen patents referred to above show examples of this design. A problem with these designs is that a number of movements are required to fold the various table parts. The Comee table, to overcome the above problem, has a gear and linkage type mechanism which, it would appear, is excessively complex and expensive to manufacture.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved folding table design which overcomes the problems of the prior art and which has a good appearance.